


Recovery

by literaryFRIVOLOUSneophyte



Category: Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time, The Legend of Zelda
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-21
Updated: 2014-04-21
Packaged: 2018-01-20 05:10:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1497805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/literaryFRIVOLOUSneophyte/pseuds/literaryFRIVOLOUSneophyte
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She cries because she is weak, and strong, and a princess.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Recovery

She is the princess of a ravaged, traumatized world. The face of a tyrant haunts the memory of all of Hyrule, a face embalmed in flame and horror. No one is strong enough to speak his name while they rebuilt the walls of their lives.

The world is in mourning; the sky is black and the people are frightened. People huddle in groups wherever they walk, as if they are scared of being attacked. There are still black fires roaring beneath their skin, coal stuck to the undersides of their picked fingernails, injured and dying people screaming in their ears, the aftershock of disaster pounding in their hearts. Blinking feels like a risk. Not just children have trouble sleeping at night.

The world is mourning for their past, and she must prepare them for their future. 

The future looks so bleak, and she is still so young. Her eyes are downcast on the shadows and ghosts of the past, everything dark, everything hauntingly staring back with terrified eyes and outstretched hands begging for safety.

She remembers a day in the past, when she peeked through the castle window and saw a horrible man.

She did not trust him, back then. Ganondorf, now she spits out his name, coughs it out like she can barely contain knowing it.

Time is terrible. It kicks her in the gut and forces her to keep running. Hyrule has been hurt and has had its savior, and now it needs to be healed. Princess Zelda has to be their guide. She has to hold its hand even though her own shakes, and she has to walk it through these times with all the bravery she struggled with over the years.

There is so much to heal. So much misery and pain, scavenged and wrought into this patchy foundation of a future.

And Zelda is the princess of this all. In all her fear, she feels proud. She is proud of the survivors and the victims of Gandolf. She is proud to be given their trust; she is proud to give them her promise that she will stay strong enough to heal them.

She cries because she is weak, and strong, and a princess.

Sometimes she is still a little girl, and she wakes up from nightmares soaked in sweat and clutching her blankets like a shield. She tells herself, it's just a nightmare, it's just a nightmare, but everything feels too horribly real. Because she is the princess, she is Princess Zelda and Hyrule is saved, and now she must help everyone recover.

It is a mighty burden. It is her duty.


End file.
